A/N: ok, so maybe this won't exceed the 26 chapter limit. that seems to be my lucky number. lol! enjoy!

Chapter 24: Let Loose the Dogs of War

"What is it?" Toboe asked as the pack stood around a blonde wolf lying on its side.

"It's a wolf, obviously," Tsume retorted.

"It's a girl," Blue observed.

"Is she dead?" Hige wondered, and Toboe crouched next to the wolf to stroke her fur.

"She's still breathing," Kiba noticed, seeing her sides moving up and down, shallowly.

"We don't have time to play nurse maid," Tsume growled and turned to walk away. "Let's go."

"But, Tsume---!"

Toboe was cut off when the blonde wolf shot to her feet, making Toboe shout in surprise and fall back onto his rear. The blonde dog was spotted with dirt, and panting from lack of water for who knew how long, the red headband on her forehead slipped down a little, almost covering one of her eyes.

"Well, she seems to have energy now," Hige observed and the she-wolf's golden eyes darted from Toboe to Hige to Blue to Kiba finally to Tsume. When she landed on Tsume, her eyes widened and he frowned at her in confusion.

"It's you," she breathed and suddenly started walking toward him, appearing in her human form, still dirty. "I found you…" She lifted a hand weakly toward his chest, toward the scar there and smiled weakly when she touched it, making him stiffen. "She told me to find you, and I did…Tsume…"

She passed out and on impulse, Tsume caught her before she hit the ground again.

"Hey!" he snapped, shaking her. "Who told you to find me?! How do you know who I am?!"

"Maybe we should give her some water to wake her up?" Toboe suggested, stepping next to her as he opened the canteen hanging around his neck. He poured some of the water over her lips and she instantly awakened and started lapping at it. Tsume stood her up again as she took the canteen from Toboe and took huge gulps of water from it.

"Thanks for that, cutie," she smiled, pulling the canteen away and wiping some water from her chin that escaped out of the corner of her mouth, her name for him making Toboe blush.

"Now that you're awake," Tsume began, snatching the canteen from her over her shoulder and making her whirl around to stare at him with wide eyes, "Who the hell are you?"

"Name's Unaru," she grinned, fixing her headband then looking at him with determination in her golden gaze. "And you have to come with me."

"And why's that?" Tsume asked, uninterested as he closed the canteen and tossed it back to Toboe.

"Because I know where you're going," Unaru replied, her hands on her hips and all eyes shot to her. "Nobody would be out here if they weren't heading to the place I just came from. Nobody in their right minds anyway."

"And why should we believe you?" Tsume demanded.

"Because the one who told me to find is a she-wolf named Ryooshi," Unaru replied, not afraid of him at all.

"You saw Ryooshi?!" Toboe asked, standing next to her and staring at her with wide eyes. "Is she alright?! She's not hurt, is she?!"

"Last I saw her she was being held back from running out of the Wolf Hunter's headquarters," Unaru replied. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she's been beaten for the little stunt she pulled, trying to escape."

"Dammit!" Tsume growled and turned to Kiba to snarl, "I told you we should have left sooner!"

"Are you gonna follow me now, or just stand here snarling at your friends?!" Unaru barked, drawing his attention back to her. "It's not far from here. We should reach the place by sundown. If we hurry we can get there before they breed her."

"Breed her?!" Tsume barked in surprise.

"Yeah," Unaru nodded.

"What the hell do you mean, 'yeah'?!" Tsume snarled at her for being so nonchalant. "She never mentioned anything about breeding when she told us about these guys!"

"It's a new program they started a week ago, when I showed up there," Unaru explained. "Are you done ranting now? We gotta go!"

She darted off to the east and the others followed her, Tsume directly on her heels.

Please be safe, he prayed. Please don't let them hurt you. Fight, Ryooshi. Fight like I know you can.

Night...

"Well, this is great," Hige muttered as he and the others stared from the top of the sand dune down at the small buildings around a huge lake surrounded by sand. "There's gotta be at least five guards down there."

"The Hell-Hounds are inside," Unaru whispered, ducked between Tsume and Toboe.

"Hell-Hounds?" Toboe echoed.

"That's what they call us," she replied. "These guards don't need Hell-Hounds, so they think. They should be easy to take care of. Hell, I'll take 'em all down myself."

"Don't go into this with rage and anger," Kiba warned. "It might get you killed."

"Are you kidding me?" Unaru chuckled softly. "I'm not angry." She turned back to the view with a devious smile, shifting her muscles that were itching with tension to fight. "No, I'm not mad. Revenge is a dish best served cold, right? I'll be as cold as ice."

She hissed out the last word, licking her lips as if eyeing her next big meal. Toboe stared at her with wide eyes and she glanced at him, making a double-take at his expression and smiling.

"As cute as you are, you can't tell me you never went wild on a kill before, can you?" she murmured, inching closer to his face. Toboe stared at her and swallowed, a blush covering his cheeks.

"Actually, I have," he recalled, reminded of a time in his past life involving a huge walrus.

"Really?" Unaru smiled, slyly. "You're even more adorable now."

"Enough flirting!" Tsume growled, softly, making Toboe jump and Unaru rolled her eyes in exasperation and pressed a small kiss to Toboe's nose, making his blush deepen before facing the buildings ahead. "We need a plan."

"I've got one," Unaru piped up. "Blitz attack."

"You wanna get shot to death?" Tsume retorted. "Be my guest."

"Well, then, what the hell is your plan?" Unaru shot back and Tsume glared at her a moment before he looked ahead again.

"There has to be a back entrance, right?" he asked, thoughtfully.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Is it guarded?" he asked.

"No, but the door is wired with an electric current to keep the Hell-Hounds in," she explained. "I don't know if it'll affect anything touching the other side of it, but get anywhere near it on the inside, and you're as good as fried."

"Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Tsume smirked, the wheels in his head turning. He turned to Kiba, sitting leaning next to him and asked, "What do you think?"

"Getting in is always easy," Kiba replied. "It's getting back out that's a challenge."

"Well said, oh White Wonder Wolf," Unaru smiled with a near-mocking nod of respect.

"You're more annoying than Ryooshi was when we first met," Tsume grumbled.

"I like her," Toboe chimed in and Tsume rolled his eyes.

"You would," he muttered then turned back to Kiba and prompted, "Well? What's the plan?"

"I thought you had one," Hige piped up and Tsume glared at him.

"What do you think we should do?" Kiba asked, knowing full-well that out of all of them, Tsume was the best planner. He thought for a moment, turning his attention to ahead again.

"We'll need someone to distract those guards while the rest of us sneak toward the back," he planned. "Maybe even a couple of us could distract them and take them out so there're no obstacles in our way when we get out."

"How do we decide who distracts them?" Unaru wondered, her tone hinting that she wanted to be chosen.

"Since you're so eager, you can do it," Tsume retorted. "But you'll need help."

"I'll go with her," Toboe volunteered.

"Nice try, runt. I mean real help," Tsume argued then turned to Blue. "Think you can handle it?"

"You kidding me?" she smirked. "These guys won't know what hit 'em."

"Babe, I love it when you talk late that," Hige murmured, leaning over his shoulder to do so. "It gives my chills."

"Alright, save it," Tsume snapped. "Blue, you cover Sunshine over here. The rest of us will sneak around back and get in."

"How many Wolf Hunters are inside?" Kiba asked Unaru.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Usually about five or six."

"No more time to lose guys," Tsume said. "Let's go."

Unaru and Blue leapt from their places and slid down the sand dune, leaving trails of dust in their wake. It didn't take long for them to be spotted.

"Look! There's a pair of wolves!" one of the men shouted, and the two girls darted toward the lake between two of the buildings, the Wolf Hunters close behind.

"We've got 'em!" one of the men shouted, triumphantly as Blue and Unaru stopped at the lake's edge and turned to growl at them.

"They don't know what happens when a beast is cornered," Unaru growled, ready for a fight.

"Especially a female beast," Blue agreed. Just as the men aimed their guns at them, the she-wolves leapt forward, a growl each.

Tsume, Kiba, Hige and Toboe slid down the sand dune, closer to the back entrance of the headquarters and unnoticed as Blue and Unaru distracted the Wolf Hunter guards. Tsume cautiously stepped toward the door and hesitantly touched the handle. Nothing. No electric shock went through his body and he gave a sigh of relief then turned to the other three.

"Toboe," he called, waving him over. The young pup stepped toward him and he set a hand on his shoulder as he continued, "You open the door and get your tail outta the way so we can get through and attack the guys inside, alright?"

Toboe nodded and stood at the door, taking the handle.

"I'll cover you and Hige," Kiba said, looking at Tsume. "You get Ryooshi out, Hige will get the rest out."

"You think you can take five guys on your own?" Hige wondered and the other three just looked at him, making him laugh at himself and say, "Yeah, I know. Look who I'm talking to."

"Alright," Tsume nodded. "You ready, Toboe?"

"Yeah," he nodded, bracing to open the door.

"On three," Tsume told him. "One…two…three!"

Toboe flung the door open, moved away for Tsume, Hige and Kiba to jump in and ran in after them. Sure enough, five men came after them, and the others stayed still as Kiba ran at them and clamped his jaws on the lead man's neck, snapping.

Tsume ran down the isle of cages, looking for Ryooshi while Hige ran toward what looked like a control panel near the front door and Toboe jumped another man to help Kiba cover Tsume and Hige. Hige jumped the man standing next to the panel he needed to get to, but the Wolf Hunter put up a fight, starting to punch and hit Hige. Meanwhile, Kiba jumped another Wolf Hunter and Toboe was right behind him.

"There're a little more than five or six men here!" Toboe noted aloud, sinking his fangs into one of the men's arms as he tried to hit him with a baton. Tsume moved from cage to cage, still looking for Ryooshi. He finally stopped and stood in front of the cell door, wide-eyed and his heart racing in his chest. She was lying in the back of her cell, in her human form, not moving. Almost exactly like his dream.

"God, no," Tsume breathed then called, "Ryooshi! Hey! Fur-ball! Get up!"

She groaned and stirred, her eyes fluttering open to give her a blurry vision of someone standing in front of her cell. Frowning and blinking she lifted her head a little blinked until the blurry figure was clear.

"Tsume?" she breathed, wincing as she tried to get up.

"Yeah, fur-ball, it's me," he replied, smiling slightly in relief that she was alright. "Can you move? You gotta get up. Hige's gonna get the doors open any minute."

"Look out!" Ryooshi suddenly shouted, her eyes wide and staring behind him. Tsume whirled around just in time to dodge a Wolf Hunter's metal baton. The thing smacked into the bars on Ryooshi's cage and Tsume gripped the man's shoulder and slammed his head into the bars, knocking him out.

"Porky! Get these damn cages open!" he snarled.

"I'm a little busy!" Hige growled back as he had his fangs in a Wolf Hunter's shoulder and he stood on the man's back as he whirled around, screaming in pain.

Tsume turned back to the cage and told Ryooshi, "I'll be right back."

He ran toward the control panel as Ryooshi called, "It's the red button!"

Stopping at the panel, he hit the red button and ran back to Ryooshi's cage to find her crawling toward the entrance. He dodged other wolves running for the front door just as it opened. Toboe jumped a Wolf Hunter running after Tsume just as he got to the door and ducked into the cage to scoop Ryooshi into his arms.

"I got you," he murmured as she slid her arms around his neck. "Just hold on."

"She found you," Ryooshi breathed, snuggling against his chest. "Unaru found you."

"She's helping us out," he confirmed, standing and hurrying out of the cell. "She's outside taking care of the guards with Blue."

"Which one's the button to open the door?!" Hige shouted at Tsume.

"The green one," Ryooshi told Tsume in a raw voice and Tsume relayed the message to Hige.

"Ryooshi! Where are you?!"

"Nikita," Ryooshi breathed as Tsume spun around to face the voice. Nikita, in his human form, ran toward the two, his eyes filled with horror at seeing Ryooshi battered and bruised.

"Who the hell are you?" Tsume snapped, making Nikita stare his slightly mismatched eyes in terror through strands of tousled black hair on pale skin.

"This is a friend of mine," Ryooshi explained, weakly. "Nikita, Tsume. Tsume, Nikita. Can we go now?"

"Not so fast!"

"Now what?" Tsume groaned, turning toward the door to see one last man standing in the way. A man he recognized and made his blood boil. Keiji stood in front of the door, his arm in a sling and a gun in his uninjured hand.

"None of you are getting away!" Keiji shouted.

"Nikita," Ryooshi called, weakly and he could tell by the tone of her voice what the next word would be.

"Yeah, Ryooshi?" he smirked, poised for the command he knew was coming and would happily carry out, for once.

"Kill," she growled, slightly and Nikita shot toward Keiji standing in the door. The Wolf Hunter fired his gun at the half-breed, but he dodged the shots expertly and leapt with a growl at the man who let out a cry of sheer terror before there was a sickening snap.

"That's some half-breed," Tsume complimented as the other wolves jumped over his dead body and out the door.

"Ryooshi! Are you alright?!" Toboe called, running up in front of Tsume to look at her. "Ryooshi?"

Tsume frowned when there was no response and looked down at her. She had lost her human disguise and she wasn't moving. Toboe looked up at Tsume, fear striking both of them.

"What's wrong with her?" the young pup asked, near tears. Tsume didn't reply and didn't take his eyes from Ryooshi as he shook her, trying to wake her up.

"Hey, fur-ball," he urged, shaking her. "The runt asked if you were alright. Answer him, dammit!"

"What's wrong?" Hige called, stepping next to him.

"Ryooshi's not waking up!' Toboe whimpered.

"Well don't panic yet!" Hige scolded, holding back his own fear. "She's probably asleep! Let her rest, already!"

"We have to go," Kiba urged. "Hige's probably right, but we have to get out of here."

Tsume couldn't take his eyes from Ryooshi's limp body. She seemed lifeless, but he wouldn't lose hope. He couldn't. He knew she wouldn't let them down after coming all the way here just to die on them. This was what made him move and run out of the building and jump over the dead body of her former 'partner.'

"How is she?" Unaru called, standing at the entrance with Blue and running along side them as they ran from the building along with Nikita.

"She's not moving," Tsume muttered.

"We could take her back to Runs with Horses!" Toboe suggested. "Remember how that one Indian brought Kiba back? Maybe the Shaman of his village can do the same thing!"

"I'm tellin' ya, she's not dead!" Hige snapped, still being optimistic. He really didn't know if she was or not."

"Toboe has a point," Kiba told Tsume as they all stopped at the bottom of the sand dune they'd run down earlier. "It might work if she doesn't wake up by the time we get there."

Tsume swallowed and looked down at Ryooshi, still unmoving and nodded his agreement.

"Hey, who's this guy?" Hige asked, jabbing a thumb at Nikita, now in his human form.

"A friend of Ryooshi's," Tsume assured him. "Let's get back to that village."

"Mind if I come with you guys?" Unaru wondered and all eyes shot to her in disbelief. "I'd like to make sure Ryooshi's alright. Besides, I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Of course you can come," Toboe grinned and she smiled, leaning toward him to kiss his cheek, making him blush.

"Would you mind if I came along as well?" Nikita asked and all attentions were turned to him this time. "I'm in the same boat as her. Ryooshi's my friend, and I have nowhere to go."

"I don't care who tags along anymore," Tsume muttered, looking back at Ryooshi. "Let's just get her help."

He started up the sand dune and Unaru scoffed, calling, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were in love with her."

"I am," Tsume replied, and didn't care if they were stunned to here it. He couldn't deny it now, after everything he'd done to get her back. He wasn't going to let her die on him before he had a chance to tell her how he felt. It just wasn't going to happen on his watch.

A/N: wow! lol! so, i had to let Nikita have a little action because Nikita is love. reviews?